December 20, 2013 Coats Museum News
One only has to visit the local churches to recognize that the area abounds with extraordinary musical talent. Is that because music has always been an important part of our upbringing and training? I do know that the number of members in the Glee Club at Coats in 1947 is phenomenal. Read to recognize names of individuals who could possibly be heard in the local choirs today.
The Girls Glee Club consisted of Arlene Pope, Mary Lee Pleasant, Laura Frances Pope, Lorene Stone, Irene Jernigan, Edith Turner, Doris Bowden, Elizabeth Godwin, Sue Turlington, Evangeline Pope, Edna Williams, Dorothy Messer, Thelma Lucas, Sylvia Ingold, Jacqueline Johnson, Joyce Ann Grimes, Dorothy Parrish, Helen Godwin, and Catherine Carroll.
The Junior Glee Club in 1947 was composed of Max Avery, Archie Baker, Billy Dew, Jr., Halford Godwin, Kenneth Keene, Bernice Graham Norris, Gordon Stephenson, Wade Norris, Benny Ray Stephenson, Jerry Stewart, Wallace Truelove, Stacy Williams, Ira Williford, Gerald Young, Bobby Williams, Virginia Norris, Joyce Parrish, Violene Pope, Hazel Pollard, Lottie Stephenson, Janet Stephenson, Louise Smith, Rebecca Whittington, Peggy Royal, Sallie Pat Hawley, Edna Ryals, Margaret Turlington, Doris Johnson, and Wilma Barnes.
Are you seeing familiar names? That’s not all of them. Do you wonder where that many young people stood to perform and why they were referred to as the Junior Glee Club? Continue to read the members’ names in the Junior Glee Club. Betty Sue Willis, Hazel Holder, Geraldine Norris, Barbara Cooper, Phyllis Cooper, Stacy Byrd, Sherrill Willis, Don Denton, Eugene Sauls, Grace Ryals, Melvia Williams, Ruth Denning, Edna Avery, Lila Dorman, Marie Parnell, Phyllis Bowden, Virginia Byrd, Joseph Johnson, Mavis Gregory, Lou Mitchell, Joel Hough, Bobby Baker, Thomas Stephenson, Thelma Jackson, Donnie Pollard, Clyde Turlington, Jimmie Vaughn, Fred Holmes, Gail Pope, Sue Stewart, Laura Ennis, W.R. Williams, Lee Norris, William Stewart, Johnnie Parrish, Milliard Lamm, Dorothy Stone, Jesse Honeycutt and Dorothy Barnes were participants in the Glee Club for the graduation ceremony.
Could the auditorium hold all of these singers and family and friends of the graduates? This is the final list of names in the club. Barbara Denning, Henry Jackson, Maynard Moran, Albert Elliott, Gertrude Byrd, Tyrus Powell, Marvis McLean, Benton Ennis, Fredrick Byrd, Glenda Truelove, Hilda Williams, Willa Mae Brown, Sue Franklin, Fannie Sue Langdon, Claudia Norris, Leontine Moore, Imogene Williams, James Tadlock, Jeanette Jackson, Doris Campbell, Flossie Parrish, Lois Beasley, Etta Gray Byrd, Linwood Jernigan and Rudolph Miller completes the list (Harnett County News May 12, 1947). Who was the club music director? How did the director control all those students?
I have a question. For those of you who recognized the names of individuals, did you see their faces in your mind as you remembered them from years past? Most of the folks I deal with are former educators and we share that we often have someone come up to us and call us by name and then ask us if we know who they are and do we remember having them in a certain class?-- So embarrassing! Not until they tell us who they are do we flash back what they looked like as younger people in our classrooms.-That’s memory!
Graduation was near for the 28 seniors who walked across stage at the Coats High School on May 18th, 1947; however, the Ira Colon Avery family had to face the reality of the death of their loved one. Avery, 54, had died at his home on Sunday. He was survived by his wife Mary and daughters-Edna and Iona – and sons-Clarence, Raymond, William and John Avery. Two other children lived away-Mrs. Ray Schultz and Mrs. Ernest Hudson (Harnett County News May 15, 1947). Were there brothers or sisters?
I do know that the clubs in town honored the teachers of Coats School with a picnic at Fleming’s Pond. The Coats Fellowship Club, Woman’s Club, Page Book Club and teachers had a program of good entertainment and fellowship. Vic Lee was president of the Fellowship Club; Mrs. Lucy Kelly was head of the Woman’s Club and Mrs. W.E. Nichols was president of the Page Book Club. Who knows where that pond is? Mrs. J.K. Adams announced the marriage of her daughter, Maude Adams, to Joe Langley of Laurinburg (Dunn Dispatch May 17, 1947). Was he an outstanding coach in that area and is he the father of our Joe Langley of Angier?
Many merchants in Coats supported the graduates of the Class of 1947. Who were these merchants? Coats Motor Company, Pope’s Department Store (Thad Pope and Vic Lee), O.K. Keene, Coats Theater, Bon Ton Cleaners, E.H. Honeycutt, L. Marvin Johnson, Coats Gin, Co., City Market (Clem Godwin), and Roycroft Drug Co. were names printed in the paper (Dunn Dispatch May 22, 1947).
The Lloyd Willard Pollard family of Coats, Route One, also felt the sting of death. He was the 66-year-old father of Paul, J.L., Mrs. Audrey Stone, Mrs. Garland Matthews, Mrs. Fletcher Flowers, Mrs. Bill Christensen and Hazel Pollard. Mrs. Spicey Pope was his widow. Services were held at the Gift PBC and burial was in the Ennis Cemetery (Dunn Dispatch May 22, 1947).
The John G. McLamb family lost their mother after having lost their father a short time ago on March 14th. Mrs. McLamb was the former Ida Moore and was 72 (Dunn Dispatch May 22, 1947).
Can you imagine not missing a day of school for 12 years! Two young Coats students were on their way to meet that mark. Emily Turlington and Joan Johnson had attended nine years at the close of the 1946-47 school term. Miss Turlington was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Turlington and Joan was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jonah C. Johnson (Dunn Dispatch May 26, 1947).
Lonnie F. Ennis of Route One, Coats had died. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Ennis of Harnett County. He was brother of W.H and R.D. Ennis (Dunn Dispatch may 26, 1947).
Peggy Butler was one of the graduates in the play for commencement at Campbell College. School had been out for only a few days, but surely the graduates who won special honors were still on “cloud nine”. Winning special awards were: Citizenship-Hugh Turlington, Best-All-Round Boy-Ben Fish, Commercial –Mable Messer, Journalism-Sylvia Blallock, Best Bus Driver-Nora Wood, Public Speaking-Alice Anna Johnson, Valedictory-Doris Powell and Dramatics-T.J. Turlington, Jr. (Dunn Dispatch May 29, 1947). Nora Wood lives in Morehead City now and is doing well according to her nephew, Ray Wood, who called to share that Nora was the youngest child of M.F. Wood and that she married Roy Stevens. Thanks- Ray.
Everyone loved the Coats Theater. Some say that it often served as a babysitter and Mr. Yarley and Mr. Autry paid excellent wages (Donnie Dorman, May 2004). Wonder if the drive-in theater, Floyd’s Drive-in Movie, cut into the profit of the Coats Theater. Floyd’s was between Erwin and Dunn (Dunn Dispatch May 29, 1947).
The Coats Board of Directors had a very productive meeting last Saturday morning at the museum where they enjoyed a brunch afterwards. Eddie Vaughan was unanimously elected to replace David Barnes who has moved to Nashville, TN. Mayor Walter and Kathy Weeks have pledged to become wall donors to help meet the $50,000 challenge. Freddie and Kathy Stancil of Stancil Builders have also come on as wall donors also. Thanks for your support to our community and museum.
Visit the website at coatsmuseum.com and check out “Funding” to see the great support the friends of the museum who have given to the endowment and building funds to honor and memorialize friends and family over the years. These memorials and honorariums are our means of preserving and showcasing the local history of our area. Consider honoring someone you love with a Christmas gift to the museum and bring them to visit our Coats Museum while it is dressed up for the Christmas season.
One only has to visit the local churches to recognize that the area abounds with extraordinary musical talent. Is that because music has always been an important part of our upbringing and training? I do know that the number of members in the Glee Club at Coats in 1947 is phenomenal. Read to recognize names of individuals who could possibly be heard in the local choirs today.
The Girls Glee Club consisted of Arlene Pope, Mary Lee Pleasant, Laura Frances Pope, Lorene Stone, Irene Jernigan, Edith Turner, Doris Bowden, Elizabeth Godwin, Sue Turlington, Evangeline Pope, Edna Williams, Dorothy Messer, Thelma Lucas, Sylvia Ingold, Jacqueline Johnson, Joyce Ann Grimes, Dorothy Parrish, Helen Godwin, and Catherine Carroll.
The Junior Glee Club in 1947 was composed of Max Avery, Archie Baker, Billy Dew, Jr., Halford Godwin, Kenneth Keene, Bernice Graham Norris, Gordon Stephenson, Wade Norris, Benny Ray Stephenson, Jerry Stewart, Wallace Truelove, Stacy Williams, Ira Williford, Gerald Young, Bobby Williams, Virginia Norris, Joyce Parrish, Violene Pope, Hazel Pollard, Lottie Stephenson, Janet Stephenson, Louise Smith, Rebecca Whittington, Peggy Royal, Sallie Pat Hawley, Edna Ryals, Margaret Turlington, Doris Johnson, and Wilma Barnes.
Are you seeing familiar names? That’s not all of them. Do you wonder where that many young people stood to perform and why they were referred to as the Junior Glee Club? Continue to read the members’ names in the Junior Glee Club. Betty Sue Willis, Hazel Holder, Geraldine Norris, Barbara Cooper, Phyllis Cooper, Stacy Byrd, Sherrill Willis, Don Denton, Eugene Sauls, Grace Ryals, Melvia Williams, Ruth Denning, Edna Avery, Lila Dorman, Marie Parnell, Phyllis Bowden, Virginia Byrd, Joseph Johnson, Mavis Gregory, Lou Mitchell, Joel Hough, Bobby Baker, Thomas Stephenson, Thelma Jackson, Donnie Pollard, Clyde Turlington, Jimmie Vaughn, Fred Holmes, Gail Pope, Sue Stewart, Laura Ennis, W.R. Williams, Lee Norris, William Stewart, Johnnie Parrish, Milliard Lamm, Dorothy Stone, Jesse Honeycutt and Dorothy Barnes were participants in the Glee Club for the graduation ceremony.
Could the auditorium hold all of these singers and family and friends of the graduates? This is the final list of names in the club. Barbara Denning, Henry Jackson, Maynard Moran, Albert Elliott, Gertrude Byrd, Tyrus Powell, Marvis McLean, Benton Ennis, Fredrick Byrd, Glenda Truelove, Hilda Williams, Willa Mae Brown, Sue Franklin, Fannie Sue Langdon, Claudia Norris, Leontine Moore, Imogene Williams, James Tadlock, Jeanette Jackson, Doris Campbell, Flossie Parrish, Lois Beasley, Etta Gray Byrd, Linwood Jernigan and Rudolph Miller completes the list (Harnett County News May 12, 1947). Who was the club music director? How did the director control all those students?
I have a question. For those of you who recognized the names of individuals, did you see their faces in your mind as you remembered them from years past? Most of the folks I deal with are former educators and we share that we often have someone come up to us and call us by name and then ask us if we know who they are and do we remember having them in a certain class?-- So embarrassing! Not until they tell us who they are do we flash back what they looked like as younger people in our classrooms.-That’s memory!
Graduation was near for the 28 seniors who walked across stage at the Coats High School on May 18th, 1947; however, the Ira Colon Avery family had to face the reality of the death of their loved one. Avery, 54, had died at his home on Sunday. He was survived by his wife Mary and daughters-Edna and Iona – and sons-Clarence, Raymond, William and John Avery. Two other children lived away-Mrs. Ray Schultz and Mrs. Ernest Hudson (Harnett County News May 15, 1947). Were there brothers or sisters?
I do know that the clubs in town honored the teachers of Coats School with a picnic at Fleming’s Pond. The Coats Fellowship Club, Woman’s Club, Page Book Club and teachers had a program of good entertainment and fellowship. Vic Lee was president of the Fellowship Club; Mrs. Lucy Kelly was head of the Woman’s Club and Mrs. W.E. Nichols was president of the Page Book Club. Who knows where that pond is? Mrs. J.K. Adams announced the marriage of her daughter, Maude Adams, to Joe Langley of Laurinburg (Dunn Dispatch May 17, 1947). Was he an outstanding coach in that area and is he the father of our Joe Langley of Angier?
Many merchants in Coats supported the graduates of the Class of 1947. Who were these merchants? Coats Motor Company, Pope’s Department Store (Thad Pope and Vic Lee), O.K. Keene, Coats Theater, Bon Ton Cleaners, E.H. Honeycutt, L. Marvin Johnson, Coats Gin, Co., City Market (Clem Godwin), and Roycroft Drug Co. were names printed in the paper (Dunn Dispatch May 22, 1947).
The Lloyd Willard Pollard family of Coats, Route One, also felt the sting of death. He was the 66-year-old father of Paul, J.L., Mrs. Audrey Stone, Mrs. Garland Matthews, Mrs. Fletcher Flowers, Mrs. Bill Christensen and Hazel Pollard. Mrs. Spicey Pope was his widow. Services were held at the Gift PBC and burial was in the Ennis Cemetery (Dunn Dispatch May 22, 1947).
The John G. McLamb family lost their mother after having lost their father a short time ago on March 14th. Mrs. McLamb was the former Ida Moore and was 72 (Dunn Dispatch May 22, 1947).
Can you imagine not missing a day of school for 12 years! Two young Coats students were on their way to meet that mark. Emily Turlington and Joan Johnson had attended nine years at the close of the 1946-47 school term. Miss Turlington was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Turlington and Joan was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jonah C. Johnson (Dunn Dispatch May 26, 1947).
Lonnie F. Ennis of Route One, Coats had died. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Ennis of Harnett County. He was brother of W.H and R.D. Ennis (Dunn Dispatch may 26, 1947).
Peggy Butler was one of the graduates in the play for commencement at Campbell College. School had been out for only a few days, but surely the graduates who won special honors were still on “cloud nine”. Winning special awards were: Citizenship-Hugh Turlington, Best-All-Round Boy-Ben Fish, Commercial –Mable Messer, Journalism-Sylvia Blallock, Best Bus Driver-Nora Wood, Public Speaking-Alice Anna Johnson, Valedictory-Doris Powell and Dramatics-T.J. Turlington, Jr. (Dunn Dispatch May 29, 1947). Nora Wood lives in Morehead City now and is doing well according to her nephew, Ray Wood, who called to share that Nora was the youngest child of M.F. Wood and that she married Roy Stevens. Thanks- Ray.
Everyone loved the Coats Theater. Some say that it often served as a babysitter and Mr. Yarley and Mr. Autry paid excellent wages (Donnie Dorman, May 2004). Wonder if the drive-in theater, Floyd’s Drive-in Movie, cut into the profit of the Coats Theater. Floyd’s was between Erwin and Dunn (Dunn Dispatch May 29, 1947).
The Coats Board of Directors had a very productive meeting last Saturday morning at the museum where they enjoyed a brunch afterwards. Eddie Vaughan was unanimously elected to replace David Barnes who has moved to Nashville, TN. Mayor Walter and Kathy Weeks have pledged to become wall donors to help meet the $50,000 challenge. Freddie and Kathy Stancil of Stancil Builders have also come on as wall donors also. Thanks for your support to our community and museum.
Visit the website at coatsmuseum.com and check out “Funding” to see the great support the friends of the museum who have given to the endowment and building funds to honor and memorialize friends and family over the years. These memorials and honorariums are our means of preserving and showcasing the local history of our area. Consider honoring someone you love with a Christmas gift to the museum and bring them to visit our Coats Museum while it is dressed up for the Christmas season.